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| A modular unit is proposed to relieve overcrowding at Glasgow Middle School. |
Since the 2008-09 school year, FCPS has seen an average increase of 2,400 students every year, for a total increase of more than 21,000. This year, the CIP states, enrollment grew by just 1,386 students from the previous year. That is “one of the smallest membership increases FCPS has experienced in more than eight years.”
FCPS attributes the contracted growth to a decrease in entering kindergarten cohorts and a decline in net migration. The document projects overall growth at a moderate rate over the next five years, while enrollment in the early grades might actually decline slightly.
Enrollment increases are projected for middle and high schools, however, and that will “continue to present a capacity challenge,” the CIP states. And because that growth is expected to be uneven, FCPS proposes to address the problem through boundary changes, as well as capacity enhancements.
The CIP calls for three new elementary schools and one new high school. The only one in the Annandale/Mason area is an elementary school on the site of the Willston Multicultural Center in Seven Corners “to alleviate potential future capacity concerns in the region.”
The cost of funding all the projects in the CIP is estimated at $845 million over five years, while the amount of funding available from school bonds and other sources is just $385 million.
Funding for capital improvement projects is currently limited by a $155 million yearly cap on school bond sales. Because facilities needs exceed the amount of funding available, the schedules for many future renovation projects are expected to be delayed.
Here’s what’s in the CIP for schools in the Annandale/Mason area:
In the Annandale High School Pyramid
- Annandale Terrace Elementary School– When renovation is completed in the 2020-21 school year, the school will have a design capacity of 750 students.
- A new Advance Academic Program (AAP) Center is considered for either Annandale Terrace or Braddock ES to provide capacity relief to Canterbury Woods ES and keep the pyramid cohorts together.
- Bren Mar Park ES and Columbia ES– A capacity deficit could be accommodated with temporary facilities or interior architectural modifications.
- Mason Crest ES– The CIP proposes moving all students to the Falls Church HS pyramid to reduce the school’s status as a split feeder. Currently, 75 percent of Mason Crest students go to Falls Church and 25 percent go to Stuart.
- North Springfield ES– When renovations are completed at the end of this school year, the school will have a design capacity of 635 students.
- Poe MS– Create a new AAP Center at Poe to serve AAP students currently at Glasgow MS and Frost MS, proving capacity relief to those schools.
- Annandale HS– Remove surplus trailers.
In the Falls Church High School pyramid
- Westlawn ES and Woodburn ES– A capacity deficit would be accommodated with temporary facilities or interior architectural modifications.
- Jackson MS– Provide capacity relief at Jackson and help align feeder patterns by reassigning a portion of the Jackson MS students, who will eventually attend Oakton HS, to Thoreau MS.
- Falls Church HS– Renovation to be completed in the 10-year CIP cycle.
In the Stuart High School pyramid
- Belvedere ES– If a new AAP Center is created at an elementary school in the Annandale HS pyramid, that would provide capacity relief to Belvedere.
- Glasgow MS– Create capacity relief by installing a 10-classroom modular addition in 2017-18 and shift AAP students to a new AAP Center at Poe MS.
- Stuart HS– Apply for a zoning variance to construct an addition to alleviate the capacity deficit.
Among the FCPS schools projected to be most over-capacity within the next five years are these schools in the Annandale/Mason District area: Wakefield Forest ES, Columbia ES, Woodburn ES, Bren Mar Park ES, Belvedere ES, Jackson MS, and Frost MS,